Tim Scott (R-SC) "decisively" embraced the Tea Party when asked by a reporter how closely he identified with the grassroots conservative movement that helped build the GOP's House majority in 2010. 

"I would think that most Americans are members of the Tea Party," Scott said.  

If you believe in limited government, if you believe in lower taxes, if you believe in keeping the government out of your pockets, if you believe in free markets, those are the basic tenets of the tea party. I would hope that we all would believe in that.

When the reporter asked Scott if his answer was a "yes" to his question about whether Scott identified with the Tea Party, Scott replied that his answer was a "decisive yes."